PPC Optimization: Ad Text Position

Summary: Leading with benefits can improve PPC text ad conversion rates. We show a case study that improves conversion rates by 1.8X.

Our tests have shown that ad text optimization is the most effective means to optimize PPC conversion rates. One PPC ad optimization technique is to vary text position to find the optimum location. In this article we show how a simple change of text position within a PPC ad can have dramatic effects.

Lead with Benefits

One technique that has been shown to work is to lead with your benefits. Your website visitors want to know what's in it for them. Whatever the main benefits of your product or service: be they faster, smaller, lighter, or cheaper - lead with them in your ads. In our test case of a Green Taxi service in Michigan, a simple flip of text position produced a dramatic effect on the ad's conversion rate and cost per conversion (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: PPC Ad Text Position Case Stody

Figure 1 shows our call only text ads. The original ad put the benefits (24 Hour, Low Fares, Fast Service) at the end of the ad. The updated ad flips the first and second lines to put the benefits first, just below the display URL. The text ads were identical except for the flipping of the 1st and 2nd lines. The updated ad improved the conversion rate and cost per conversion by more than 1.8 times.

The updated ad also shows other improved metrics, including slighly higher CTR, lower CPC, and higher position in ad rankings.

Conclusion

Optimizing PPC text ads in Google Adwords is a matter of choosing high performance keywords and ad text, and tweaking bids to favor high conversion demographics, times, and locations. Leading your ad with benefits can improve conversion rates dramatically, by 1.8X in this case study.

Targeting your desired audience within particular geographic area using income is a powerful tool you can use to improve your conversion rates. Average household income is just the first demographic that Google has rolled out for that purpose. Coming soon are gender, age, and parental status which could be used to further refine your campaigns.

Learn how to add ZIP code targeting to your PPC campaigns to boost conversion rates. By optimizing the performance of individual demographics and locations, you can improve conversion rates to squeeze more leads out your AdWords spend.